sagansense:

Mars Terraforming

This feat, the “terraforming” of Mars from its current lifeless or near-lifeless state to a living, breathing world supporting multitudes of diverse and novel life forms and ecologies, will be one of the greatest and noblest enterprises of the human spirit. No one will be able to contemplate it and not feel prouder to be human.

Life in the initial Mars settlements will be harder than life on Earth for most people, but life in the first North American colonies was much harder than life in Europe as well. People will go to Mars for many of the same reasons they went to colonial America: Because they want to make a mark or a new start, or because they are members of groups who are persecuted on Earth, or because they are members of groups who want to create a society according to their own principles. Many kinds of people will go, with many kinds of skills, but all who will go will be people willing to take a change to do something important with their lives. Out of such people are great projects made and great causes won. Aided by ever-advancing technology, such people can transform a planet and bring a dead world to life.

- Robert Zubrin, Entering Space: Creating A Spacefaring Civilization

how about no

isabelthespy:

fuckyeahethnicwomen:

traciglee:

Thirteen-year-old Lauren Rojas decided to send Hello Kitty 100,000 feet into space with a high-altitude balloon. Here are her recorded results.

Science!

Seventh grade girl builds rocket, sends Hello Kitty into the upper atmosphere

 Annalee Newitz

A seventh grader has made good on the dreams of middle schoolers everywhere by sending Hello Kitty into the stratosphere. According to ABC News:

Lauren Rojas, a 12-year-old from Antioch, Calif., got the idea after seeing a television commercial in which a balloon was launched into the sky. She thought she could do the same with her Hello Kitty doll. She would test air pressure and temperature at high altitude for her school’s science fair.

And so she did. With these incredible results. (via io9 Seventh grade girl builds rocket, sends Hello Kitty into the upper atmosphere)

So. Cool. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I saw the dark of the sky, holy shit, chills down my spine. It’s like that bit in The Right Stuff.

space-ndn:

invaderxan:

Mars!

Awww yeah Mars, shake that ass!

smissmas-miracle:

I have to make a presentation for my Natural Sciences class tomorrow. Naturally, as I am going to an HBCU and tomorrow is the first day of black history month, we had to choose black scientists.

I chose Mae Jemison, because she’s an absolute badass.

This is my presentation.

(Except the ‘babe’ slide, I just wanted to let it be known on Tumblr that Mae Jemison was hot.)

Hopefully it doesn’t get me in trouble.

Enjoy.

colchrishadfield:

A fun gif from last night’s puck drop.

The constellation Orion—or, possibly, among some Mayan peoples, a turtle—rising over the temple of Kukulkan in the Mayan city of Chichen Itza. The orange star on the left is Betelgeuse and the brightest blue one is Rigel, corrupted English versions of the original names given them by medieval Arab Muslim astronomers.

(Via Phil Plait’s 2012 astrophotography roundup.)

dbeat:

From Dr. Jemison’s alumni publication:

“Images show us possibilities,” the Stanford graduate says. “A lot of times, it’s fantasy that gets us through reality.”

A quarter of a century after Lt. Uhura boldly went where no African American had gone before, her protegee returned the favor. Before blasting into orbit aboard the Endeavour in 1992, Jemison, the first woman of color in space, called actress Nichelle Nichols to thank her for the inspiration. And then she made a promise:

Despite NASA’s rigid protocol, Jemison would begin each shift with a salute that only a Trekkie could appreciate. “Hailing frequencies open,” she could be heard repeating throughout the eight-day mission.

http://racialicious.tumblr.com/post/15951584829/drkingnichellenicholsmaejemison

“Hailing frequencies open”

omg nerds

geminid meteor - earthgrazer, dan stanyer

the geminids peak tonight! like an unlucky pedestrian splashed by each passing car, the earth regularly passes through trails of dust and grit that burn spectacularly in our atmosphere. this is one of the showier meteor showers, and this year there may be a surprise cameo appearance.

would-be skywatchers may be discouraged by the prospect of freezing their asses off. luckily it’s the 21st century and there are livestreams for this.